College of the Desert

Quick facts:

College of the Desert is a community college located in Palm Springs, known as the host of the famous Coachella festival. As a community college, College of the Desert offers extremely competitive tuition fees, while being an ideal pathway to the best universities in California.

About College of the Desert and COD Foundation

For more than 50 years, College of the Desert has served as the Coachella Valley’s center for higher education, occupational and technical training and lifelong learning. Today, College of the Desert ...

Study in the California sun…with or without a bac!

College of the Desert (CoD) has partnerships with some of the best californian universities, including UCLA, USC, San Diego State University, CSU, UC Riverside and UC Berkeley. Its 2+2 programme allows students to do their first two years of study at CoD before transferring to one of these prestigious universities to finish their bachelors degree. This option allows students to save considerable amounts of money in tuition fees without sacrificing the quality of their studies. In total, CoD have 200 international students from 47 countries. They all get a warm welcome, accompaniement services during their studies, advice on the selection of their transfer university, and assistance in their application. They can also get scholarships and housing grants. And finally, the college organises multiple outings and activities allowing them to meet people and familiarize themselves with their new surroundings. From their arrival to their departure, students have someone they can trust.

Courses and Specialties at College of the Desert

CoD offers courses in over 50 subject areas. The most in demand programmes are : Business and administration, computer science, hospitality management, performing arts, visual arts.

The small class sizes allow personalised teaching, rapid progress, and a personal relationship with the teachers. CoD therefore offers a very high level of teaching, preparing students to join the best californian universities. Beyond the purely academic skills, international students also learn to become familiar with american culture and the intricacies of the american system.

Joining College of the Desert

College of the Desert works on an open admission system, meaning that international students who have the required level in english (a 5.0 on the IELTS ou de 450 au TOEFL papier) can enroll, without having to put in an application and even without having a bac. Students who don’t have the required level in english can make use of the Intensive English programme : a one year preparation course that allows students to join the college without resitting an official english test.

Tuition fees are tiny compared to american universities : only 6000$ per year on average.

Living and studying in Palm Springs

On top of the legendary Coachella festival, Palm Springs has many other attractions. Located between Los Angeles and San Diego, the city offers sporting activities including hiking trails and natural parks like the Joshua Tree National Park. Palm Springs is a small town and is therefore a safe and relaxed environment. International students can choose to stay with a host family. The latter are very carefully selected to offer students a high quality of life and the feeling of having a second family.

College of the Desert is certainly the best pathway to the studies of your dreams in a californian university. Choosing this school to start your studies will allow you to save considerable amounts of money without having to sacrifice your studies or lower your ambitions. For more information on the College of the Desert and the available courses, get in touch with a member of the Study Experience team.